A blog by Bas Bleu, champions of the odd little book

Monthly Archives: August 2017

If you’ve ever stood in a grocery-store checkout line, you’ve read the absurd, often conflicting blurbs on the magazine covers displayed there—“10 Easiest Weight-Loss Tricks” is inevitably paired with “5 Reasons This Chocolate Cake Will Change Your Life” and “16 Top Tips for Landing Mr. Right” paired with “6 Signs You’re Better Off Single.” During a recent shopping trip, the Bas Bleu editors got to thinking: What headlines would such a magazine pair with classic books, to lure in readers? Continue reading →

Across the country this month, schoolbuses are rolling through the streets and backpack-laden youngsters are headed back to school. And while we don’t miss the days of cafeteria lunches and mid-term exams, we do find ourselves nostalgic for getting grades just for sitting around reading a book. So in the spirit of back-to-school reading, our editors have chosen a dozen of our favorite books from Bas Bleu’s new Autumn 2017 edition—due in mailboxes this week!—for bibliophiles who read not because the teacher told you to, but because you love it! Continue reading →

Every year, as Bas Bleu gears up for the holiday season, we find ourselves sorting through hundreds of terrific gifts—and faced with only sixty-eight catalog pages on which to squeeze them! So we created True Bleu Gifts, a special “department” of our online store for all those fun things we think you’ll like but that we can’t fit into our printed catalog. Continue reading →

Editor AG surrounded by a sampling of the books we’re vetting for our 2018 Book a Month packages

The dog days of summer are upon us, ripe with heat, humidity, and the overwhelming urge to do nothing but lie around and read. But while the weather outside may have you thinking about anything but Christmas, inside the Bas Bleu editorial office we’re already deep into preparations for our Holiday edition…and up to our eyeballs in candidates for our 2018 Book a Month packages! Continue reading →

As part of Bas Bleu’s 2017 Book a Month program, each month we’re offering discussion questions, author interviews, or other bonus material about our Bluestocking BAM selection to enrich your reading experience—for book clubs as well as thoughtful individuals. (We’ll do our best to avoid plot spoilers, but you should proceed with caution!)

Aging is as inevitable as the turning of the seasons, and the potential loneliness that comes with it is a singular challenge. Our August 2017 Book a Month selection, Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, transcends the generational gap—though on the surface it’s a story about aging, all the characters, both young and old, struggle with friendship, love, trust, and second chances. Quietly compelling and brimming with joy and heartache, Our Souls at Night reminds us that, no matter our age, we long for deep relationships and real, lasting connection. Continue reading →